Saturday, August 13, 2016

It doesn't always go how you expect, & a day in the frugal life

But, sometimes, that's okay. I had grand plans for a 4 miler, but got roped into a trip to Ikea to buy a rug (his choice) for a 9 year old who rocked his state test exams. The 10 year old did even better, into the gifted range across all criteria, but he hasn't decided on what he wants.

And, a quick look at our day:


  • 6:30, up and at 'em. This was a "late start" because it was the weekend. Made espresso out of our 10+ year old espresso machine. (Costco, a fortune 10+ years ago, has more than paid for itself)
  • 7:00 am, M made breakfast for everyone - eggs, toast & fruit. Coffee for the adults (milk for me)
  • 8-8:30 - got everybody sorted, dressed, and in the car to soccer scrimmages
  • 8:45-11:00 - soccer, on the field, with water bottles, sunblock & snacks packed from home. Try out scrimmages, so more intense than usual. Boys coated in bargain sunblock. 
  • 11:15 - home for lunch. Would have been easy to stop & grab something on our way in, but rummaged through the freezer & found "veggie" corn dogs that I purchased for a quick lunch when my parents were here but didn't use. Threw that together with leftover mac & cheese for the kids. I reheated a homemade taquito (freezer) for myself & served with peaches, carrots & cucumber.
  • 12:00 - made muffins for M's breakfast. His favorite, and when we got married, I promised to keep him stocked in muffins. we ran out, which we rarely do, so I remedied that this weekend. Homemade cranberry muffins.
    12:45 - emptied dishwasher
  • 1:00 - washed sleeping bags from summer camp vs dry cleaning, or having cleaned. Set first set out to dry in the sunshine.
  • 2:00 - next set of sleeping bags/pillows in the sunshine, plus shoes & inserts from boys shoes. The amount of debris from summer camp  . . . ! It's like an entire forest came home with them!
  • 3:00 - impromptu trip to Ikea as a reward for the state test that Nick crushed. He got a rug (his room has hardwood floors & his 10+ year old rug got tossed after many attempts at cleaning this year.) Plus, a few inexpensive but washable place mats & soap dispensers. Total = less than $100. Sam hasn't decided yet what he wants, but is leaning towards money in his college account. Smart boy. 
  • 4:00 - homemade lemon drops made from lemon tree. Although, clearly not frugal as we are now out of vodka. ;-)
  • 4:30. Juiced all of the lemons, watered the plants, picked the strawberries & tomatoes.
  • 5:00. Start dinner. Face down leftover rice & oldish tomatoes. Decide on fried rice with chicken, carrots (obviously) & egg, plus edamame & salad. Youngest joins me in the kitchen to make himself pasta & salad for the family. Kids set table.  
  • 5:30 - dinner prep, more laundry, dishwasher. Go through all of boys clothes & shoes. Weed out everything that doesn't fit.
  • 6:00. Massive, giant donation pile for all of the clothes that don't fit. Magically, ten year old now has feet big enough to wear M's socks. No other socks will do. Adult only. When did this happen? 
  • 7:30 - dinner, followed by surprise offer from Amazon shopping (groceries). $25 off of a grocery offer, with free shipping on a $40 offer. So, bought: smoothie ingredients for the freezer (berries, peaches, etc), edamame, fancy/"healthy" bacon, English muffins, tomatoes, & avocados. More than I'd pay at Costco or the like, but for $15, I'll take it!
  • 8:00+ - too tired for anything other than budgeting, bill paying & collapsing on the sofa. Vetted a meal delivery service with a $30 offer (you know, the kind with recipes, all of the ingredients, etc) & still couldn't make the math add up. Passed on that. Almost bed time! 
School starts on Monday & the fun begins again. How about you? How was your Saturday? 

2 comments:

  1. Wow, you got loads done! I wish amazon in Canada was as good as the USA. We don't even having movie streaming on amazon prime. Definitely no grocery delivery. We had a day off from the business, much needed. Learned how to drive our new car (new to us, 2012) which seemed rather complicated but is not. Now down to 2 vehicles so saving on insurance and maintenance. Looked for new cushions for our patio furniture (on sale end of season) but didn't find anything that works as our old cushions are rotting at the seams. Did 2 loads of laundry. Hubby mowed the lawn while I did a 2 mile walk with the dog. Facetimed my stepdaughter to discuss her lease. Talked to youngest stepson about upgrading and the possibility of going to college next year (yay! finally). Programmed new iphone SE. Took pictures of old iphone 4s to sell. Sat on the patio with a magazine and a cider and enjoyed the sunshine. A good day overall!

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    1. So happy you got a day off as well. You also got a ton of stuff accomplished! I'm not really a fan of a grocery delivery service as an every day thing (too spendy), but I've liked the trial offers. :-)

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